Teacher Appreciation Sale

Being on maternity leave this entire school year means I haven't purchased anything all year except tons (too much) clipart. I got a call from my principal yesterday letting me know which grade I will be teaching next year which got me excited about getting back in the classroom. Talk about perfect timing! I get to take advantage of today's Teacher Appreciation Sale at Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook.

I am linking up with Speech Room News to show you what's in my cart. Is it bad that my cart totals up to almost $200. Yikes! Before I show you my goodies here are my 3 must-haves that I use every year.

Every week we focus on a new sight word & read our sight word reader for that sight word every day at my guided reading table. Students write their new sight word to complete each sentence and color their reader to personalize it. Every Friday they bring their reader home to read to their parents. After we have covered that sight word I then add a laminated version of that reader in our class library. I find this to be especially favored by my readers who need extra support. These readers can make any child feel like a pro reader. 

Just click on the photo of the products for all the details.

 

Who doesn't love a little FREE taste of a product. 

Get the From Sight Word Reader for free.

Starting the school year right with discussion on our school & classroom expectations is a must for the beginning of the year. I do this successfully with The Monster Came to School story & activities. This is my #1 best seller in my store.

The school year is coming to an end for all of y'all & what better way to show love to your students than by celebrating them! At the end of each year I host an End of the Year Celebration in my classroom every year and it is a favorite time for me, the students and the parents. Read more about it HERE.

 Now, as for my cart...

Reading & writing have always been my strong points in teaching so when looking for resources for next school year I was on the look out to improve my areas in math & science.

Have you seen this AMAZING Nonfiction Resource Bundle? Oh boy! I can not wait to get my hands on this!!! I think this could help my science lessons go to the next level.

Deanna & Deedee recently posted these FREE & totally awesome Guiding Kinders Math Lesson Plans and Curriculum Map that help demonstrate how they plan using these Guiding Kinders Math Units. I was reading through the comments & ratings and one buyer mentioned how it is perfect for her teacher assistant to use to teach math lessons while she works with those students who need extra help. Hey. Wait a minute. That is exactly what I am looking for! I usually focus on reading & writing skills at my guided reading table while my TA works with students on math skills that they have learned.

 Working on improving your strengths never hurt anyone, right? I think Deanna's Chit Chat Bundle can help me do just that. 

I am still on the look out for more math & science resources so if you have any recommendations please feel free to share. :)

A Look at Reading & Writing in my Classroom

Everyone has there own ways on teaching reading & writing. Since I love reading about how others teach it in their classroom, mainly because it gives me fun & new ideas, I figured why not share how I teach reading & writing with my kinders. Of course like any teacher I start reading & writing at the beginning of the year with the children's names. They practice writing their name, building their name using different manipulatives & reading their name.

The kindergarten program at my school uses Animated Literacy. The program is nice but I like to mix in there certain things from Project Read and the Sing, Spell, Read & Write program, along with our favourite Dr. Jean learning songs. At my last school district we taught a different letter each week beginning with A & ending with Z. I love how the Animated Literacy program begins with P, then U,O,M, etc. so that my kiddos can build a few small words after learning just few letters & letter sounds. 

Each morning we start our day with calendar time which I use to teach a variety of skills but along with a new letter each week we also have a new sight word each week. The sight word is introduced on the SmartBoard during calendar time & the children also read over the sight words they've learned each morning. I believe repetion is key! Each morning during calendar time I pull up a blank page on the SmartBoard & "kind of" use techniques from Project Read to reinforce knowledge about vowels. I follow those techniques loosely and adjusted them to what I like best. 

I start by saying "every word has a vowel" (clapping once when I say the word every). We then name the vowels as a group while counting them on our fingers. I write the vowels on the SmartBoard and then we go over the vowel sounds while using hand gestures. I am now getting into long vowels with the kiddos so we talk about the silent magic e at the end of a word & partner vowels (the 1st one does the talking & the 2nd one does the talking). It's a skill that isn't in the curriculum until grade 1, but hey why not teach it. 

Learning sight words can be tricky for kiddos so along with reading their sight words each morning on the SmartBoard I introduce their sight word book every Monday. I read it during calendar time & at one of the Centers or for morning work the students will fill in the missing sight word on each page & colour their book. They generally read it to me every day at my guided reading table during Centers. With it being after December I now have levelled guided readers that each group reads to me so right now we read our sight word readers daily whole group. I do like using the sight word readers at my guided reading table for my struggling readers. 

(PS. I use a coloured laminated version of the sight word readers that we've read in the book bins for partner reading.)

We also reinforce the sight word of the week and letter of the week in our journal writing. 

Well I am about to begin my 1st session at a teaching convention. My 1st since teaching in Canada.

To be continued....